1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for altering the speaker orientation of a portable system. Certain embodiments relate to computer-implemented methods for altering the speaker orientation of a portable system based on the display orientation of the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Portable systems are becoming increasingly popular, and many different types of portable systems are currently available such as portable computer systems including, but not limited to, tablet personal computers (tablet PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cellular telephones that have capabilities other than telephony. Many types of handheld or portable systems are currently designed such that they can be used in multiple orientations. For example, depending on the data being displayed on the system, a position of a screen and a display orientation of the portable system may be altered to accommodate the data. In other examples, the position of the screen and the display orientation of a portable system may be altered depending on the preference of a user, the task being performed by the user, or an application being used on the system.
In general, the screen and the display may be oriented in a landscape orientation or a portrait orientation. The term “landscape orientation” generally refers to an orientation of a display screen in which the largest lateral dimension is in the substantially horizontal direction. In contrast, the term “portrait orientation” generally refers to an orientation of a display screen in which the largest lateral dimension is in the substantially vertical direction. The terms “horizontal” and “vertical” as used herein are intended to specify a direction with respect to a user and are not intended to convey any other geometrical direction.
Typically, portable systems have internal stereophonic speakers that are used to deliver sound to a user. In stereophonic sound production, two speakers commonly referred to as left and right speakers due to their orientation with respect to the system are each provided with a respective audio signal. The audio signals are configured such that when the left and right speakers are disposed along a stereo baseline with respect to a user, the user experiences sound representative of the source from which the audio signals are created. In other words, the user experiences a spatial audio image.
When using stereo speakers in a portable system, which has the capability of being used in multiple orientations (e.g., in a tablet PC), the speaker “left” and “right” are not adjusted when the orientation of the screen is switched. For example, the “left” speaker may be coupled to a “left” amplifier, and the “right” speaker may be coupled to a “right” amplifier. The amplifiers deliver the “left” and “right” oriented sound to the “left” and “right” speakers, respectively, regardless of the orientation of the display of the portable system. Therefore, the sound intended for the right and left channels will be reversed for some display orientations. Reversal of the sound is primarily a concern when the tablet PC (or another handheld system) display is oriented in the two portrait modes due to the location of the speakers, which are illustrated further below. However, speaker reversal can also be a concern when a handheld system is oriented in the two landscape modes.
Several examples of systems that are configured to switch the orientation of speakers in a portable or movable device are illustrated in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/775,357 to Saarinen, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. However, many of the system configurations described by Saarinen are undesirable for a number of reasons. For example, Saarinen discloses that a drawback of one known display apparatus is that it requires at least four speakers. In order to operate correctly, the speakers need to be of sufficient size and, consequently, any display apparatus must have a sufficiently large housing in order to incorporate and support the speakers. Thus, the display apparatus housing can become bulky and unattractive. This is a particular problem when the display apparatus is part of a mobile or portable device, for example, a laptop or hand/palm held personal computer or display device, a PDA or a wireless telephone, since the provision of a housing for bulky loudspeakers is inconsistent with the general desire to provide lightweight, low-volume, portable devices.
Saarinen proposes a portable or movable device that includes only three loudspeakers apparently to overcome the drawbacks outlined above. However, the devices proposed by Saarinen may be disadvantageous for other reasons. For example, the three loudspeakers described by Saarinen are located at three corners of the device in a housing surrounding a display screen. Therefore, the lateral dimensions of the housing, and as a result the portable or movable device, are still dictated, at least in part, by the dimensions and requirements of the loudspeakers. In addition, in order to deliver correct stereophonic sound to a user for multiple orientations of the display, the system must turn off one of the diagonally opposite loudspeakers and turn on the other of the diagonally opposite loudspeakers. Furthermore, the system must also switch the orientation of the third loudspeaker. Therefore, the systems solutions described by Saarinen are relatively complex and may be expensive to implement.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to develop a method and a system for altering the orientation of speakers depending on the orientation of a display of a portable system to provide a stereophonic sound image to a user regardless of the display orientation without increasing the size of the housing of the portable system and while keeping the configuration of the system relatively simple and inexpensive.